Welcome to Day 6 of the 8 Days to a Christ-Centered Christmas blog series! Today, you get to hear from Yours Truly.
Image by david_jones
You see him on wrapping paper, gift bags, Christmas specials, and sitting in the center court of your local mall. He’s grandfatherly and kind, with a soft white beard and twinkling eyes. What damage could the jolly guy in the red suit actually do?
Quite a bit. At least that’s what a Chicago news anchor soon found out.
Earlier this month, Robin Robinson debunked the Santa Clause myth on live television. After a segment about gift-giving, She went on to say Santa did not exist and was only a symbol of generosity during the holiday season. Parents were mortified, as many of them had children in the same room as the program aired. The station forced Robin to apologize the following evening, as well as publicly read a number of Facebook rants from angry moms and dads.
Who knew such a good-hearted fictitious individual could be so controversial?
Although it goes against popular opinion, my personal belief is to never let your child believe Santa is anything more than a simple story. Call me the Grinch, but I don’t think your kid is missing out on the magic of the holiday season. If you are truthful to your little ones from the very beginning, you will undoubtedly prevent the heartache and tears later on. It also relieves undue pressure on behalf of the instigators – they don’t have to find creative ways to keep the story going.
Perhaps the biggest issue fueling my anti Santa-ism, is the dishonest aspect of the whole story. What happens when your kids eventually find out you lied to them, for the sake of a magical experience? When they discover their Christmas story Santa isn’t real, what prevents them from thinking Jesus isn’t real either?
In the mind of a child, Jesus and Santa have very similar character traits. They can both defeat the limits of humanity and have free gifts to give. The same child who watches Rudolph will also be listening to flannel graph stories in the Sunday School classroom. Will he be able to tell the difference?
By allowing a youngster to believe in Santa, I believe you are blurring the line between truth and fiction. I think you actually take away the magic of the season by portraying a story as something it is most definitely not. Christmas is a fantastic opportunity to explain Jesus’ miraculous conception and birth, which could eventually lead into the telling of the whole gospel. What could be more important than that?
Let’s instill a contagious excitement in the next generation about the true meaning of the season, not about a guy whose diet consists of milk and cookies.
Your Turn:
How do you feel about Santa Clause?
to The Feminine Intellect, your connection between the Bible and the real world. 
I have always had a real problem with the guy taking all the credit for the gifts when we as parents spent the money and time getting trampled to death by black friday and cyber monday shoppers.
Now what about the song Elvis Presley sings? let me quote, “Here comes Santa Claus, Here comes Santa Claus, right down Santa Claus Lane. He doesn’t care if you are rich or poor, he loves you just the same. Santa Claus knows we are all God’s children, that makes everything all right”. I never could understand how someone could put Santa Claus and God in the same lyrics or a song.
I have heard the Elvis song before, but never put two and two together concerning the lyrics. That is odd!
This is precisely our reasoning for not allowing our kids to believe in Santa Claus – you don’t mess with someone’s belief system!
Ashley Pichea recently posted..31 Days to Pray for Your Spouse
It’s such a relief to know there are others out there who believe the same thing! Thanks for commenting!
It’s kind of funny that destroying the santa myth on television would be one of those things parents want to “protect” their kids from. I have a fairly liberal view when it comes to fairy tales and magic. We are spiritual creatures with an “otherworldly” home, so it makes sense that we would be delighted and fascinated (as young people and adults) by the supernatural. I really don’t see a reason to worry about children having active imaginations and fantasies that they actually believe, so long as they can still function in “reality.”
That said, I agree! Santa is one of the nicer myths we’ve created and I think he’s even a valuable tool. But I’ve never understood the value of having your child believe in Santa. I can see how it is fun for them to be shocked and surprised by the mysterious appearance of presents or delighted by the idea of reindeer landing on their roof, but what’s the value beside it being “fun?”
I’ve heard people talk about encouraging their imaginations or But if you don’t believe it, worse, if you know its not true, then its just a lie.You’re encouraging them to put their hopes in something THAT IS NOT TRUE, knowing that eventually they will find out that it isn’t true. Why would you ever want your child to be the kind of person who believes in something that you know isn’t true?
It is absolutely possible to delight and inspire your child without lying to them or fostering an empty belief in a myth. Look for the things that you actually believe, if you’re a Christian that should be easy, but even if you’re not, there are probably some inexplicable, spiritual, or supernatural things that you think could be true. Don’t take advantage of your child’s naivete.
Imagination is a good thing, a desperately important thing. It is impossible to be truly creative without having an active imagination and impossible to be innovative, or a world-changer without being creative. So encourage your child to question things, to dream wildly and not be afraid to be laughed at. But you have to be honest with them.
Good post!
Sarah recently posted..Live58 Challenge
I love what you said about encouraging your child to dream. Everything doesn’t have to be practical, but yes, honesty is everything.
I think the whole Harry Potter craze, and now recently vampires is because we as human beings love to imagine that a magical world exists….and there’s nothing wrong with that!
Thank you for your comment!
I loved this! My sentiments exactly. Why try to fool your kids? My grandson was only two when his mother offered to take him to the mall to see Santa. He said no, that “those were just old men with beards trying to fool little kids.” At that point she gave up — wed never pushed the idea and it was obvious that he wasn’t buying it. Santa is just another layer of Christmas crud. Thanks for the post. dc
Dee Chadwell recently posted..Hell and the Christmas Connection
What a smart kid! They know more than we think they do.
I agree 100%!
Thank you!
Thank you so much for this post! We were not going to do ‘santa’ until an older couple told us…we really should and how our kids would ‘miss out’ if we didn’t. So, we did…for several years…and then, two years ago…we sat down and had a LONG talk as a family….one of our children was very mad at us…because we had lied….. I even had a discussion with someone in my family this weekend about this very topic….and made the same statements you made…but, they stuck to the old traditional….’they’ll miss out on the magic’…my response…the ‘magic’ is the blessing we receive daily from the one…whose birthday we are celebrating. I am not offended, nor do I judge others who ‘do’ Santa….so, it is hurtful when someone judges me for not doing Santa….just because they think my kids are ‘missing out’!
Thank you for sharing, Rebecca! Your story is proof that belief in Santa has the probability to do more harm than good.
I love your last statement, “I am not offended, nor do I judge others who ‘do’ Santa….so, it is hurtful when someone judges me for not doing Santa.”
In agreement as well. I grew up with the ‘fun’ that surrounds santa and Christmas but always knew it was just that – fun. I never felt I missed out and still can’t fathom what I may have missed out on. A couple times Mum and Dad wrapped presents from ‘Santa’ and gave them to us just for the fun of it. They sometimes did things like baby powder over boots at the front door or beside the fireplace to show where santa shook off his snow – just for the fun of it. We may have even sat on santa’s knee and written him a list – I don’t remember. But it was always just for fun. To me it was a make-believe story like a fairy-tale and nothing more. I always knew the truth and have continued this with my children. My eight year old just wrote a list to santa yesterday and promptly put it in his drawer – he enjoyed the process of making a wish list basically. They are guessing where Santa will come into the house this year (where we leave the ‘snow’ prints), it’s a big, fun game and I don’t see anything wrong in that. So I still can’t figure what I may have ‘missed-out’ on.
Corinna @ Butterflies and Bicycles recently posted..Gingerbread House Making
I really like that you can have fun as a family and still know the truth. Christmas should be fun, and I enjoyed reading how you incorporate Santa into your Christmas without compromising his existence, (or lack thereof)